MLS 2011 Attendance Statistics Final Week: Part 2

Now we look at the difference between 2011 and 2010 for the whole season and every team. The difference plot shows that MLS overall gained 1142. Compared to 2009 (+2820) the number is even larger. Even with the Beckham effect in 2008 (+1175) and 2007 (+1088), 2011 still shows impressive gains. It comes down to two factors: new soccer specific stadiums and the Pacific Northwest Teams.

Seven teams gained over 1000 seats and 4 approached or surpassed the 2000 seat mark. Kansas City had specific gains due to the opening of Livestrong Sporting Park. New York, LA and Colorado made significant gains since last year. Seattle gained close to 2000 seats due to the New York game and Keller's goodbye match.

The negatives this year included Columbus (-2520 since 2010), Chicago (-1541) and Toronto (-187, although this is negligible). This may be due to the lack of important stars and results for the teams and good DP signings or homegrown stars may ameliorate the numbers in 2012.

MLS 2011 Attendance Statistics Game Week 30

Recent results and matches have shown the staying power of the league both on and off the pitch. A week ago, the Washington Post's Soccer Insider blog remarked on a particularly high-attendance game week (29). Depending upon how you slice it, you could end up with vastly different numbers. However, granted equity in our analysis, a few things do stand out: Dallas (17109), Columbus (21203, only sellout of the season), Salt Lake (19888), New York (25000). Great numbers even though football season (gridiron variety) is in full swing. Add to this the perpetual sellouts in the Pacific Northwest and we are talking about the second-highest attendance record in league history; second only to the inaugural season.

The numbers as of this week:

Team	Average	Relative	Median
DC	15107	62	14477
KC	17945	97	18467
NE	13206	66	12914
CLB	11974	59	11272
TOR	20187	88	20145
CHI	14170	71	14567
NYRB	18967	75	19684
PHI	18217	98	18524
HOU	16410	61	16247
LA	22840	85	22959
CHV	14470	54	14067
DAL	13103	64	11138
SJ	12021	114	10525
CRD	14850	82	14706
RSL	17029	85	16571
SEA	36932	103	36287
POR	18627	100	18627
VAN	20585	98	20518

MLS 2011 Attendance Statistics Game Week 24

As the league nears the end of the regular season, some teams have seen an upswing in attendance. This is especially important now that the NFL and College Football restart their fall run. Columbus has seen modest gains, as has New York. West coast teams remain strong and the addition of Keane to the Galaxy may bring about sellout games to Hollywood once more.

Here are the numbers:

Team	Average	Relative	Median
DC	15024	61	13735
KC	17687	96	18467
NE	13015	65	12337
COL	11278	55	11246
TOR	20105	87	20122
CHI	13919	70	13156
NYRB	18796	75	19237
PHI	18308	99	18558
HOU	16266	60	15712
LA	23044	85	23719
CHV	14714	54	14058
DAL	12984	63	11138
SJ	12128	116	10401
CRD	14617	81	14185
RSL	16704	84	16220
SEA	37120	104	36326
POR	18627	100	18627
VAN	20580	98	20518

MLS 2011 Attendance Statistics Game Week 21

Sorry for another delay, folks! Lots of stuff happening so I had to divide my time accordingly. With Europe restarting this month, most attention will be shifted away from MLS. However, expect strong attendance to continue in the Pacific Northwest and new strongholds in the east (Philly, KC). Some of the other locations might take a hit from NFL and college football as fall sports begin play.

For the current attendance analysis we have Columbus and New England constantly struggling to fill the stands. Toronto and DCU's poor form is also reflected on their attendance. Conversely, Colorado and Dallas continue to make gains relative to 2010 and surely owe their success to their MLS Cup final last season.

I wanted to look at medians again but this time for the west and for the relative attendance. The plot above shows that most teams see over 80% in stadium capacity for most games except for Dallas (64%) and Chivas (54%). Note, however, that Dallas has made a gain of over 2000 seats since last year.

MLS 2011 Attendance Statistics Game Week 19

Generally good attendance has been the norm for the past couple of weeks. The only exceptions would be Houston last week (12047) and San Jose (8122). Never mind the unyielding heat east of the Rockies. People are coming out to the games.

I thought I would look at another interesting piece of data. I do a lot with "relative attendance" (actual/capacity) in addition to mean and median. The relative attendance is usually for the mean. But what about the median relative attendance? This week I look at the Eastern Conference. We see that, on any given week, DCU is at 61% capacity as well as New England (65%). Lowest here are Houston (56%) and Columbus (52%). Do note, however, that Houston's capacity far exceeds most of the Eastern Conference (27000). KC (100%), TFC (87%) and Philadelphia (99%) are the highest.

MLS 2011 Attendance Statistics Game Week 12

Two months and 12 game weeks in, 2011 is just barely over 2010 in terms of overall attendance. Columbus is mostly the driving factor with over 3000 less seats filled in average during the present season compared to last year. Add to this the delay in home play for Kansas City and the numbers brought in by sellouts in Cascadia do not change the overall figures that much.

At this point we can also start playing with other numbers such as the median. If we look at the Eastern conference alone, we see that the mean for Houston, for example is much higher (>2000) than the median. DC also exhibits similar numbers, albeit smaller than Houston's. Conversely, New England seems to have slightly higher median attendance numbers than the mean suggests. This is mostly due to one or two dates with numbers far below 10,000.

MLS 2011 Attendance Statistics Game Weeks 7 & 8

It has dawned on me that although this may be the seventh actual week of MLS play, it really is game week 9. As thus, I'm renaming the statistics series of posts "game week" instead of "week."
With that aside, I'd like to provide another important caveat: although Philadelphia looks to have lost in the attendance difference from 2010, the reality is different. Initially, the Union played a couple of games at Lincoln Financial Field (home of the Eagles). Those games were over 30,000 and 20,000, far more than the 18500 seats available at PPL Park. Their average right now is ~17,000, very close to last year's when you factor out the games at the football stadium. We are likely to see the same process (although opposite effect) when Sporting Kansas City starts playing at Livestrong Field, which has twice as much space as Community America Ballpark.

Okay, back to the stats. Columbus and New England continue to struggle whilst Dallas is the biggest winner (aside from the Galaxy). Indeed, Dallas had a sellout, albeit very wet, outing against the Galaxy. Even better, the crowds were payed back through a clutch win versus the West Coast giants. No need to get too worried about the New York, Houston and Chicago markets, as they are likely to stabilize and remain close to last year's numbers.

As promised, above is a plot showing the relationship between relative attendance and actual average attendance for teams in the Eastern Conference. Notice that Philly has attendance near the 100% relative mark but is smaller next to DCU and Toronto given those teams' larger capacity stadiums. Columbus and New England are at the other end of the spectrum. Both are well below the other teams both in average attendance and relative. As far as actual numbers, New England is presently half full (49%) whilst Columbus is slightly higher than that (54%).

MLS 2011 Attendance Statistics Weeks 5 & 6

Weeks 5 and 6 had to be a combo due to the midweek matches. Real Salt Lake gets a pass for the Monterrey games. We're all behind you as MLS fans.

New England continues to struggle, as does Chicago and Columbus. New York, surprisingly, is also well below its stats from last year. This is quite inexcusable due to the form of Henry, Ream, Agudelo, Marquez, Lindpere and just the team in general. The lowest attendance has been 14,000, well below the capacity of 25,000.

I make a lot of points about relative attendance, which is the actual numbers divided by the capacity. It's an interesting statistic worth exploring when one sees how full (empty) a stadium really is. Bigger stadiums look emptier than small ones depending on crowds. When it comes to Western Conference teams, stadiums are typically much fuller than the East. A simple scatter plot above shows the relationship between relative and average attendance. Notice that many teams are close to 100 even though some, like San Jose, have smaller stadiums (i.e. higher relative attendance). Conversely, a team like Chivas is much lower in the relative axis due to its large capacity (27,000).

Charlie Davies returns

Charlie Davies returned to first team action in yesterday's DC United season opener against the Columbus Crew. DC won the game by the score of 3-1 thanks to goals from Josh Wolff and Charlies Davies. I write this peace only to point out the second goal by Charlie. It is his vintage speed, adaptability, placement and positioning. He sneaks around Marshall after the defender's mistake with the bounce. His speed into the area and quick movement around Will Hesmer (GK) allow him to position himself for the final shot. A second defender for the Crew attempts to block the empty net. Charlie switches the field of motion of the ball, sliding down and kicking to his left, fooling the defender and the rightward-shift of the entire play. Well done indeed. Welcome back, Charlie.

Video disabled due to Copyright so I removed it from the site. Here's a link instead.

Seattle elevates US Open Cup to glory

The second year expansion team, Seattle Sounders FC, defeated the Columbus Crew in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup tournament and won it for the second year in a row. For those unfamiliar with this tournament, it is akin to the English League and FA Cup tournaments, the Copa del Rey in Spain, and many other single-elimination tournaments in planet football. Yes, USA has one too, and they've had it for 97 years.

Just like in other countries, this tournament is open to almost all semi-pro and professional leagues within the country, including the USSF Division 2 (Carolina Railhawks, Miami FC, etc.), USL-2 (Crystal Palace Baltimore, Austin Aztex, etc.) and other minor leagues. Like in England when Wycombe Wanderers may upset Arsenal or Everton, a team like the Charleston Battery may defeat the LA Galaxy.

Ever since the formation of MLS, and with the exception of the Rochester Rhinos in 1999, only MLS teams have won the cup. Attendance for these matches is notoriously low because they (a) fall during midweek usually, and (b) media coverage is limited. The same can be said for most other cup tournaments throughout the planet with the exception, perhaps, being England.

But this year Seattle changed the tournament. It injected credibility with the media, given the significant, ardent fan base of the Emerald City. The team also includes world class stars: Blaisse Nkufo (Switzerland) and Angel Fernandez (Uruguay), both present at the World Cup. Added to this are young phenom Fredy Montero, Steve Zakuani, Kasey Keller, among others. And the Crew is no pushover: Frankie Hejduk, Guillermo Barros Schelloto, Robbie Rogers, Eddie Gaven, Emanuel Ekpo.

It was a fun game to watch, with plenty of action on both ends. The Crew went up first but Sanna Nyassi would even the score before the half and would add the winning tally deep into the second half. He did it in front of an emphatic 31,000+ attendees in a raucous environment worthy of the 97-year-old tournament. This is after winning it against DC United in 2009 at the RFK Stadium. Seattle is a model club worthy of praise on and off the pitch. It is a triumph for MLS and for the US fan of the sport. Well done.

MLS 2009 Attendance stats week 11

I will be short on this one. Please also be aware that MLS 2010 attendance graphics are likely to come less often for the next 3 months due to the World Cup and other commitments. It's fascinating material, however, so this by no way means that no more graphics will be available.

Most interesting this past week was the great attendance for the Columbus versus Galaxy match... and rightly so since they are the hottest teams in the league. Colorado also sold out a game against Seattle. Decent attendance for RSL at 80% for their last match. Tonight's match at the Red Bull Arena had poor attendance... about 11k, much more like the days of the Meadowlands. But, Henry is (hopefully) on his way, as are one or two other big stars after the World Cup. Expect attendance to rise after the tournament is over. Sometimes Americans can't get enough of a good thing.

The MLS playoff bug: Salt Lake topples Columbus

Today Real Salt Lake, MLS playoff wild card, beat the reining champs Columbus Crew by the score of 3-2, with a 4-2 aggregate after winning at home last week. Was it a fluke? Hardly. Do they deserve it? Yes. Does Columbus deserve not to win again? Not really.

There are many haters of the playoff system and its contrast against European-style leagues. Other leagues in this same continent have playoff or "liguilla" formats as well, Mexico being one of them. In Europe, in the big leagues, the champions are decided by total points accrued during the season. In MLS, point totals positions you in the standings and sets up the playoffs. Eight of the fifteen teams in the league proceed to the playoffs. Home-and-away series for the quarterfinals, decided by eastern and western conference. A single game semifinal with the higher seeded team as host... and the MLS cup at a "neutral" location--this time in Seattle.

There is, however, a title for the highest amount of points in the regular season--the Supporter's Shield. It doesn't get the attention it deserves but it counts as a trophy and earns passage to the Concachampions (Champs League in Concacaf). In Europe, we could call this the league title, with the playoff being more of a cup like the Copa del Rey in Spain and the FA Cup in England. We shouldn't forget the US Open Cup that more closely mirrors the FA or League Cup in England where most amateur-to-professional teams all vie for the same trophy. In the US, USL leagues and other American small teams are allowed to compete against each other and against MLS.

In the end, Americans love their playoffs. It's part of the sports atmosphere in this great country. It's the legacy of years of media coverage and sponsorship deals and consumerism. Soccer may be a different beast in some aspects but in the end it is nothing but a sport... and you can attach playoffs to any sport. Case in point, the ultimate soccer tournament... the World Cup.

When a league is as competitive as the MLS, mostly thanks to the salary cap, any team that enters the playoffs has a shot. There are no seven game series here. You have to bring your game to the 180 minutes (or 90 minutes for single games). Robert Warzycha chose not to play 2008 MLS Cup MVP Guillermo Barros Schellotto in the game at Salt Lake. The Argentine virtuoso did score today, twice, but the final tally was 3-2 in favor of RSL. We will question his wisdom in subtracting him from the squad in the first game... and it will haunt him.

This is MLS. These are the MLS playoffs, love them or hate them. Last year, lowly New York defeated then-champs Houston to advance to an improbable final. Who's to say that can't happen again? RSL is capable of taking down both New England and Chicago, with the former being a more likely win. It should be fun to watch. At this point, everyone should take this tournament as it is... a cup... and this always means that, in the end, all bets are off.

MLS international: The Champions League

No, not UEFA. We're not in Europe, even if our style and players are more suited to the European game. I'm speaking of the Concacaf Champions League or the Concachampions, whatever you want to call it. Christened last year as a substitute for the Concacaf Champions Cup in order for the conference to emulate other tournaments around the world that have a longer period of midweek play or perhaps to cash in on the new MLS designated player rule. Whatever the reason, it's been miserable for MLS. Last year only Houston made it to the quarterfinals and were booted off in their first game. Somehow USL's Puerto Rico Islanders made it to the semis.

This year, Columbus punched its ticket to the quarterfinals thanks to poor play from Costa Rica's Saprissa. The Crew has done exceptionally well, save for their game against Mexican foes. Houston, however, failed to win against Metapan, a Salvadoran team that was outscored 0-17 prior to last night's match. Somehow, though, they were able to score 3 goals on Houston, enough to win 3-2 and leave Houston out of the quarterfinals. DC United will be hoping that winless San Juan Jabloteh can beat or tie Marathon (Honduras) to get past the group stage.

It suffices to say that right now MLS just can't cut it internationally. Last year both Chivas and New England were booted off the competition by teams from Panama and Trinidad. I give full credit to those teams, but we have to look at this objectively. I don't know if it's lack of experience or lack of motivation for players with matches outside MLS (Quaranta was quoted at one point saying that he wasn't as interested in matches outside MLS but instead wanted to focus on playoffs).

Another point is the lack of a reserve league when these games happen near the end of the MLS regular season. There just aren't enough players for all these tournaments. I think that until the reserve league is reinstated (no hurry with the economy as it is) then we can expect more international failures. No qualms. We just don't have the arguments at this point. The MLS - Mexican league matchups left us with an 0-6 record. The league should, at this point, continue to concentrate on building its fan base here in the States, build more stadiums, and solidify their teams. At some point, though, true fans of the game will want international success. It's part of club soccer around the world and it brings prestige to the league, not to mention a degree of accreditation that MLS lacks right now.

More of the same: MLS vs Mexican teams

Wow. Now that's 0-6 for three separate MLS squads versus their Mexican counterparts. All three teams, DCU, Columbus and Houston have failed to score a victory or even a tie against their Mexican rivals. Why is this so? Clear dominance. Bad luck. No reserve league. Call it whatever you want but the sad truth is MLS just cannot cut it against their Concacaf rivals these days.

Our two sentinels, Houston and Columbus Crew, both with impressive home records and en route to a possible MLS cup final, were outscored by a combined 0-10. Columbus, our current champs, were thumped 5-0 by Cruz Azul in Mexico and went down 0-2 in Columbus (the home field for the American national team). I wouldn't feel so bad if it weren't for other teams in Concacaf like Arabe Unido (Panama) and Marathon (Honduras) winning their respective home matches against Mexican teams. Both have put DCU and Houston in very precarious positions. Houston might have a better chance assuming Pachuca can take care of business at home versus a Panamanian side that spanked them 4-1 earlier in the tournament. For DC United, despite their impressive multi-goal wins against Jabloteh and Marathon, need a result whilst visiting mighty Toluca.

That's my rant for today. No real answers and too many questions. There are more important questions and problems with MLS, yes. Team pride, credibility for the league, and international recognition are just as important as marketing and big stars in world football. Perhaps this is what upsets so many fans. Then again, could it be that there are American fans that don't care about their team's games outside of MLS? An interesting question .

MLS in the CONCACAF Champions League

What a disgrace. It wasn't enough that, save for Charlie Davies, no one else in the national team showed up to play against Mexico at the Azteca. Now it seems even our best clubs fall to Mexican competition. And why is that? Two reasons: team depth and poor player decision on the pitch. DCU managed not to win...again. Never mind that it was against Meixcan powerhouse Toluca. No surprise there with an injury-ravaged and overcommitted team playing in three competitions with only 24 players. But at home again? This extends their inability to win in CONCACAF play since the end of the Champion's Cup two years ago. Sad indeed.

Then there's Columbus. They squandered the game early on when Cruz Azul went ahead by two goals in the first twenty minutes. A silly couple of fouls and they were down a man going into halftime. They looked dangerous in the attack, yes, but ultimately being a man down against a confident Mexican team was too much for the best team in Major League Soccer.

And what about Houston? The feisty Texan team just made their life harder by losing three players going into the next match, including midfield maestro Stuart Holden. They were even up on the scoreboard until the very last minute, when the Panamanian club was able to even out the score.

What have we learned here? Team depth. Yes, the economy is bad and this probably should not and will not come into play in MLS decisions for the time being. But it is worth to note that not having a reserve league hurts the league internationally and lowers the play in US Open Cup. Just ask the teams that lost against USL sides. I think that's the most important lesson. Teams always have a hard time playing in Mexico, that's a given, but we are certainly not going to have a strong showing there if we play the same guys that are busy trying to inch their team into the play-offs.

Oh, and the two ghosts of American soccer present: red cards and focus. These are the unfortunate fruits of poor decision both on and off the pitch. Players have to be smarter when they are involved in international play. More experienced clubs thrive on these situations. And the latter, focus, is to remind ourselves why we lost to Brazil in the Confederations Cup: we let the other team dominate until they scored. That's what happened to Houston yesterday. Now they will be without Holden or Ashe (pretty much the whole of the midfield) when they visit mighty Pachuca. Ouch.

MLS 2009 Attendance stats week 6

I may take a couple of days to post these numbers but they're usually worth it, right? Pretty pictures are usually more intuitive than just random numbers and facts. With that in mind, I'd like to concentrate on this week's numbers. With both TFC and Seattle playing at home, you would expect big numbers. TFC never disappoints and Seattle got its money's worth with Ljundberg and Keller scoring big both on the pitch and in the stands.

As it stands, if you took Seattle and Toronto away, league mean attendance would be scarcely over 12,000. The two teams alone bring the number above 14,000. Columbus and DCU are showing signs of a comeback in attendance terms. Less can be said about the reigning champ's success on the pitch. But it's early and plenty of dreaming to be done. Schellotto may yet show his considerable muscle and this team has a great base to work with.

Qwest field is no Bernabeu and San Jose is no Chelsea, but the stadium boils over with excitement from the crowd nonetheless. More on Champions League after tomorrow's affair. One more check at attendance. On the right is a pie chart of attendance for the western conference. On the left is the same for the east. Clearly, the two attendance leaders overshadow other teams. No Beckham means no huge white chunk (denoting Galaxy) of the pie.

MLS season rewind: a look back

Winners and losers:
On the W side...
1. Columbus, Schelotto and company ran through the season burying teams like DC and LAG on their way to a Supporters shield and an MLS Cup. Sigi Schmid is the best coach in MLS and an X factor for any team in the league. Seattle, there could be a rosy future in hand. Outlook: Keep the Argentinean, add another one (Palermo?) and keep a strong young squad to restore MLS's name in the next Concachampions.
2. New York's up-and-down season ended with a bittersweet end. Their unlikely quest for glory came after losing Altidore to Villareal and Reyna to retirement plus a long list of injuries. Van Den Bergh held this team together for Juan Carlos Osorio and Cepero (plus some luck) delivered NYRB's place in the final.
3. Real Salt Lake bought up some new faces (Morales, Mathis, Espindola, Olave) that took them all the way to the play-offs, not to mention a wonderful new stadium in Rio Tinto that I feel should be used against most Concacaf foes for the Nats (except Mexico, of course).
4. KC rejoiced in their make-shift yet cozy Community America Ballpark, effectively moving out of Arrowhead and clearing the way for a real stadium. Lopez and an appearance in the play-offs worked out well for them. Arnaud's play impressed enough to play in the national team.
5. San Jose won its place back in MLS and a smaller but effective stadium (like KC's) paved the way for a season in which they were contenders given the ineptitude of the western conference.
6. Chicago held its own, added Brian McBride to an already swelling attacking front with Blanco and Rolfe and reassured their defensive play.
7. Toronto FC started out well but eventually collapsed due to their long list of international players. Still, the best attendance in the league and a great manager made them a good team to watch this season.
The L side...
1. Galaxy. Gullit never really liked it in LA and Lalas' awful picks did the team in. Team Beckham-Donovan played great offense but stumbled in their defense worse than the Detroit Lions. Sean Franklin was a bright spot, as were Donovan's goals and an eventual move out of the league.
2. Houston is on this side because they allowed themselves to be beaten out by the Red Bulls. Their team has great explosiveness but maybe it's time for something new.
3. New England was awful this year thanks in part to losing Twellman and Ralston to injuries plus a horrible showing at the Concachampions. Clearly, they did not care about the regional tourney.
4. DCU had an unfortunate fall from grace this year. The eternal MLS contenders fell appart due to injuries and an innefective Marcelo Gallardo, a streaky Emilio, and bad goalkeeping. Concachampions was another failure.
5. Chivas is a difficult side to categorize because they also succumbed to injuries throghout the year. Kljestan and company found a way to win games and that led them to the play-offs once again. They reside in the losers columns simply due to their horrible failure in the Concachampions... beaten out by (ehem) a Panama side?
6. Colorado was flat all year long. Gomez should not have left DCU and both teams paid for this. Conor Kasey's return was a bright spot.
7. Dallas was awful to watch this year. Davino's entrance was inefective at best and then again it really doesn't matter because no one came to watch the games. If you look at the stats column on the right you'll see that they were down by 2500 seats from last year.

Looking forward: Columbus' win should open a few eyes (and wallets) since they won with a blue-collar team in accordance to their place of birth. New York should learn from this experience and perhaps opt for a playmaker of Schelotto's quality to bolster their attack. Same goes for the rest of the league. A second DP player might work wonders for the MLS. Columbus did it without one but Schelotto sure deserves a raise.
Less players, more money. More senior players in the squads, no reserve games and higher wages may work as a start in today's economy. MLS has its ways and sometimes it pays out.
Bring back Becks next season. The league needs him one more time in Bruce Arena's tuteladge and perhaps the team can finally reach the top. Donovan deserves his break in Europe so let's not try to keep him here. Another marquee forward might do the trick this time around since we also know Arena will be reconstructing the defense.
Lastly, there's Seattle. Fans and all. Ljundberg and Jaqua are also nice in this squad. In the end, expansion sides are a toss-up in this league where every team has a shot at being number one. It is the way of things in America... always different from the rest of the planet.

Do the Crew!!!

At points in this MLS season I had badmouthed the Columbus Crew fans, labeling their franchise as one that could be moved elsewhere especially given that they did away with a portion of the stadium seats to make room for a stage. I always had faith in their team, however. Blue collar, hard working, compact, no huge stars. It's a classic underdog story. The once-Boca player Guillermo-Barros Schelloto pulls the strings in a most-Argentinean manner rekindling the days of Ortega, Veron and Co. Robbie Rogers is the American starlet that featured in the Olympics (without much impact). Hesmer is the goalie with mistique, Moreno the default #10, accompanied by US international and surfer Frankie Hejduk, plus Eddie Gaven, Nigerian Olympic medalist Emanuel Ekpo, and a host of other characters make up the new MLS bandwagon team. MLSRumors founders and current proprietors are also big Crew fans. It was a steady rise to the top for Sigi Schmid's team, both on the pitch and in the stands. They steadily made their way to the top brushing aside Chicago, DCU and the Revs. Their top form earned them a Supporter's Shield title (League championship, so to speak, based on regular season standings, a place in next year's Concachampions and a berth at next week's MLS Cup. So let's toast to the most hardworking team in the league! Being smart in terms of youth-experience balance, staying away from a DP, and ultimately winning the day through the impecable job done by Schmid has trully brought this team to the main stage at last. Here's to one of the original MLS 10 that actually kept their [at times regarded as silly] name. Bring it on, RSL/NY. A new champ will be crowned and maybe, for once, it will be the right team.
A few moments with the Crew (Guillermo always in the mix):

MLS Attendance stats week 25

Back to business. Yes, data is a little dated (by a week). Expect another delay before the next installment of MLS attendance stats. For this week I wanted to have you pay close attention to New England's attendance. Notice that they have a higher than normal average (17.751) and also a good change from last year (+964). However, NE suffers from inconsistent attendance. Note that their median is 12,060 and that they've had 3 games less than 10,000. Columbus has enjoyed better attendance in the past few games due to their amazing form. I also leave you with a look at the mean vs median for the eastern conference. Except for NE and NYRB, most teams have pretty steady numbers by these standards.

MLS Attendance stats week 23

Sorry for the long skip in attendance info. I have a life too and there were several loose ends I had to tie up. I'm gonna make this one brief...
As we start looking towards World Cup qualifying not only in the CONCACAF but in CONMEBOL, UEFA and beyond some of the strain in attendance numbers may be felt as fans are notified that their favorite player will not be on the pitch. Then again, an electrifying performance by team USA in the semifinal round of CONCACAF may attract more attention to the national league. Also, let's keep in mind that that other football has taken to the fields as well and plenty of attention will go there as well, not to mention ugly lines on fields that should not be used for soccer. Added is the end of a long summer hiatus in the world's top leagues, i.e. England, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Co.
So what does this slew of factors mean for MLS attendance? From my humble numbers/analysis.... not much. Not yet, at least. Or maybe, just maybe MLS has finally found its niche and worry should be placed on the international status of the league (the Concachampions, salary caps, designated players).
One more point before I go... Columbus. Notoriously low in numbers for most of the season has shown great promise in the past few games as their great form has transcended onto the stands. The last 3 out of 4 home games have had numbers above 16K, and 2 of those, against KC and FCD weren't exactly against high-caliber oponents. I leave you with the Crew's individual numbers.